Always There For You
by Writer Of Worlds
Summary: After a nightmare about his parents' murders, Mac had grown more depressed during the day. He even pushed away his close friends when he needed help the most. When Ryu found him sobbing in his room, he realized that his boxer friend desperately needed the comfort. Ryu x Mac. For a friend who's going through a rough patch in their life.


**Title: Always There For You**

 **Fandom: Super Smash Bros.**

 **Rating: T**

 **Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Angst**

 **Summary: After a nightmare about his parents' murders, Mac had grown more depressed during the day. He even pushed away his close friends when he needed help the most. When Ryu found him sobbing in his room, he realized that his boxer friend desperately needed the comfort. Ryu x Mac. For a friend who's going through a rough patch in their life.**

 **Pairings: Ryu x Little Mac**

 **A/N: I talked to a very close friend of mine (I won't say names for their personal reasons) who went through a rough patch in their life, so I thought I could do something nice for them and write something. To my friend: I hope that you're doing okay. We love you, remember that :)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anyone in Super Smash Bros.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 **Always There For You**

" _Hey, Mac. We're going to the grocery store. See you in an hour."_

" _NO! DON'T!"_

 _No matter how much he tried, fifteen-year-old Little Mac was unable to run towards his parents. For some reason, he couldn't run—even though his mind screamed at his legs to move, they were frozen in place. He couldn't stop them—he couldn't_ save _them from certain death. All he could do was watch helplessly as they walked away from him, as he continued to scream for them to not go._

" _MOM! DAD! NO! PLEASE DON'T GO! I'M SORRY!"_

 _The memory where he fought with his parents lingered in his mind—as if it had happened seconds ago. He still remembered all the terrible things he said to them...and he wished he could take them all back. But his parents wouldn't listen; they continued on until they disappeared to an alleyway._

 _The only thing he could hear were gunshots…_

* * *

"MOM! DAD!"

Twenty-three-year-old Mac shot up from his bed, cold sweat dripping down his forehead. Tears that were built up in his eyes began to fall, and he sniffled as he wiped them away. His heart was still pounding after the nightmare as he tried to catch his breath.

Once the distortion disappeared, he glanced around. He was in his and Ryu's shared room; no gunshots. No inability to run. He was in reality.

But he knew that his parents were dead. _That_ was still reality, and Mac wouldn't accept that fact eight years later. He tried to trick his brain into believing that his parents were just missing—or they were with other family members. But no matter how hard he tried, his mind was still set to one thing: his parents were no longer alive.

His muscular body shook, and he tried so hard to hold back his tears. As he tried to get his composure back, he heard groaning at the other side of the room. Mac jumped in surprise, only to calm down upon realizing that it was just his roommate, Ryu. The sleeping martial artist turned to the side to face Mac, one eye opened to look at his boxer friend.

"What's wrong?" Ryu asked, concern audible in his voice.

Mac gulped, trying to not cry in front of Ryu. Ryu had first joined the Mansion a year ago, and he and Mac became good friends. Though lately, Mac had grown to...like him—more than just a friend in fact—but rumors had it that Ryu had been dating a female friend of his back at his world, so he didn't bother coming out of the closet to anyone, not even Ryu. He doubted that Ryu would feel the same if he was dating a woman.

Mac finally managed to calm down, and he shook his head to answer Ryu's question. "I-I'm all right. Just a nightmare, is all."

Ryu frowned when Mac mentioned a nightmare. He sat up from his bed and spoke in a calm and comforting voice, "Want to talk about it?"

Mac hesitated, the memories of the nightmare returning in his mind. He still felt like he was unable to run, and he was still regretful of the last time he and his parents talked; they had an argument, and like all teenagers, he screamed "I HATE YOU!" to them before storming out to go to his room. It was typical teenage behavior, but Mac didn't expect to hear that his parents were murdered that same day. If only he had known…

He shook his head "no", not saying a single word. Even though Ryu was his friend, he didn't want to burden him with his own past. He doesn't know much of Ryu's backstory, but he bet that he had a lot on his plate when it came to that.

Ryu eyed at him, noticing his tear-stained face and his shaking body. "...Are you sure? You're upset..."

"I-I'm okay, Ryu. Just a nightmare. Nothing much..."

With that, Mac ended the conversation by laying back down on his bed, falling asleep. He knew that Ryu was going to insist on telling him about the boxer's nightmare, so he had to make sure that he doesn't bother him.

Ryu's frown intensified, but decided to leave Mac alone for the night. Laying back down on his bed, he returned to his slumber. That didn't stop Ryu from worrying about his friend, however…

* * *

When morning came, Ryu noticed something. Mac had skipped breakfast, even though pancakes, his favorite breakfast food, were on the menu, which struck Ryu as odd. Not only that, but he had skipped _both_ lunch and dinner. Because of that, his fighting performance in matches were disastrous. He didn't pay attention to his surroundings, and before he knew it, he was launched off the stage, defeated. Ryu realized how unusual it was of Mac to hit last place; he was usually up to at least second because of his amazing boxing skills. Ryu _knew_ that something was wrong with Mac. Ever since last night, he had been worried for his close friend. Whatever nightmare he had, it was affecting Mac more than it should.

He decided to check on his friend—something was _definitely_ wrong.

At night before bed, Ryu walked down the hallway, looking for his and Mac's room. Knowing the boxer, his friend should be in his room. He wouldn't be out at this time of night, depressed or not. As he continued to walk down the hallway, he bumped into Doc.

"Ah, Doc," Ryu greeted with a bow.

"Oh, hey Ryu!" Doc greeted back, waving with his free hand—he had a chocolate bar in his other hand. Ryu still wondered how the older man got his addiction to chocolate.

"Is Mac in his room?" Ryu assumed, a frown forming on his face.

Doc nodded to answer his question. "Yeah! Son's been acting strange today..."

"I agree," Ryu said. "He even skipped every meal."

"Really?" Doc's eyes widened at this as he took a bite of his chocolate bar. After swallowing, he continued, "That's worrisome...did you also saw how he fared in those matches?"

"Yes," Ryu nodded. "Something's wrong..."

"Yeah...I tried to tell him not to bottle it up, whatever it was, but...he just upped and left."

Ryu frowned at this. Mac considered Doc like a father—he would _never_ keep a secret from his trainer. What in the world happened that made Mac decide to keep whatever he was hiding from both Ryu and Doc?

"I'll go find him," Ryu answered. "He probably needs someone."

"Good luck, Ryu," Doc said before they said their farewells and parted ways.

As Ryu continued down the hallway, his mind was on Mac. While he saw Mac as strong and stoic, he had a feeling that Mac had been bottling up something inside him. Ryu understood emotions—he may not look like the type, but he could be emotional. When Master Gouken was killed, he could only stand there, shocked, trying to hold back tears before he left to tell Ken what had happened. He even refused to eat the food that Ken bought for him that day. He may not had shown any tears to his friends—not even to Ken and Chun-Li—but when he was alone, the tears come out, knowing that bottling it up wasn't a good idea. He at least talked it out with his friends, but the pain was still fresh at the time.

He snapped back to reality when he heard distant sobbing. He raised an eyebrow as he continued walking, and as he got closer, he realized that the sobbing was in his and Mac's room. His eyes widened, realizing that Mac was crying over something that had happened to him.

Like Mac to Ryu, Ryu doesn't know much of Mac's past. The only thing he heard about the boxer was he won a boxing championship, and had retired from boxing until he got the invitation for fighting in the Smash Bros. tournament. Perhaps there was something that happened in Mac's past that he kept hidden from both Doc and Ryu?

When he opened the door, his heart was torn to pieces upon seeing Mac curled up into a ball on his bed, holding what appeared to be a stuffed dog in his arms. Ryu wanted to run towards him and hold him close, and to tell him that everything was going to be okay.

But instead, he walked up to the small boxer and sat beside him on the bed. He placed an arm around Mac's shoulders, shocking the boxer. Mac turned his head to face Ryu, and the martial artist noticed his red, puffy eyes from crying for God's know how long. The moment Mac saw who it was, he quickly scooted away from Ryu, his face redder from embarrassment.

"Ah! R-Ryu...I-I didn't see you come in..." Mac stuttered, gulping.

Ryu's lips were drawn into a line before he spoke in a soft, comforting voice—much to Mac's surprise, "Are you okay? Did something happened?"

"..."

Mac stayed silent, though Ryu knew that Mac needed comfort. Whatever it was that the boxer kept bottled up, he _needed_ someone—someone who understood and who would be there for him—and that was Ryu.

Ryu held him close, shushing him gently. Mac froze from shock. Ryu was...hugging him? He never saw this side of his martial artist friend, nor did Ryu spoke in such a comforting, gentle voice.

"You need to let it out, Mac," Ryu whispered. "It's not healthy for you to bottle it up."

Just as he said that, Mac broke down sobbing in Ryu's arms. Ryu held him close to his larger body, rubbing Mac's back to comfort him. He didn't bother closing the door for privacy—Mac's emotional well-being was far more important than that.

To Mac, it felt like an eternity, crying in Ryu's arms, and he honestly wished that it was that way. Even though Ryu had a large frame, his hug was gentle, as if Mac was fragile glass, and if Ryu even tightened his hug slightly, Mac would break into a million pieces. Ryu rubbing on Mac's back was soothing to the boxer, and he wished that he could stay in Ryu's muscular, large arms forever.

Once Mac began to calm down, Ryu released him from the hug, smiling down at him in a comforting manner. "Do you want to talk about it?" Ryu asked. Of course, he wouldn't force it on Mac, but at the same time, he didn't want to see Mac keep it to himself—he needed to talk to someone about it.

Mac hesitated, but only for a few seconds until he nodded.

"I...I was fifteen when it happened..." Mac began.

"And what happened?" Ryu asked.

"M-my parents...we got into a big fight, and they left to go grocery shopping...and they never came back. Th-they were murdered in an alleyway."

Ryu's eyes widened, now knowing why Mac had been so depressed. Even though it had been eight years, Mac was still traumatized from hearing the deaths of his parents—those he looked up to and who were there for him. Ryu felt a...connection to Mac. Like the boxer, he lost his only parent: his master, Gouken. Ryu doesn't know his own parents—he was an orphan as a baby—and he looked up to Gouken like a father. Remembering how Gouken was killed still hurt Ryu.

"Did they ever caught the person who did it?" Ryu asked.

Mac shook his head, and he continued, "Th-that's why I wanted to learn boxing...I don't want to see anyone close to me killed like that. I want to protect the ones I love. When m-my parents died, I felt like I could've done something...so I found Doc and asked him to train me. I-I didn't tell him the real reason why I wanted to train..."

Ryu gulped, feeling terrible for Mac. The boxer was only a child when it all happened—too young to experience such things. Now he understood what Mac's nightmare was: he had a dream about his parents' murders.

Mac held the stuffed dog close to him, sniffling. "Th-this is Doggy, a stuffed animal my Mom gave me when I was little," he whispered. "It's the only thing that reminded me of them..."

Ryu was silent, though when he saw more tears going down Mac's eyes, he wiped them away with his finger, a small smile on his face.

"Mac...please don't hide that from us. Doc had been worried about you. Samus had been worried about you. The Wii Fit duo are worried about you. Even _I'm_ worried about you. It's a traumatizing event you had to go through, but you're not going through it alone."

Mac stared up at Ryu, confused. "Wh-what do you mean?"

"Even if it happened years ago, if you bottle it up, it'll _feel_ like you're alone. But talk to us. Let us know how you're feeling. We'll shoulder the burden of your past for you. We'll always be there for you, Mac."

Mac felt more tears about to pour down, but this time...he realized that Ryu was right. He then hugged the martial artist, whispering "Thank yous" to him. He _finally_ managed to tell someone, and he felt relief flowing through him once everything was poured out of his heart.

Ryu stared down at the boxer, and without thinking, he kissed Mac. The boxer gasped in surprise, but he closed his eyes as he enjoyed it. Ryu held him closer, his face turning a bright red until they had to stop for breath. Ryu, upon realizing what he had done, tried to flee, but Mac grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"You're...gay?" Mac asked.

Ryu gulped before he nodded. "Yes...I'm sorry Mac. That was rash of me."

"No," Mac shook his head. "I...actually like it." He blushed after he finished his sentence.

Ryu smiled slightly before he sat beside Mac again, holding the boxer's hand. "Mac, I'll always be there for you. Remember that, okay?"

Mac nodded, closing his eyes as he held his stuffed dog, Doggy, close. Ryu chuckled, noticing how adorable the boxer was. And for once, Ryu saw Mac smile that day.

To Mac, he felt blessed that he met Ryu. Ryu would always—and forever—be there for him.

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 **Constructive criticism is welcomed!**


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